Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a building-integrated energy collector and an accessory structure of a building. Specifically, the invention relates to a building-integrated solar thermal collector and a building accessory structure using the solar thermal collector.
Description of Related Art
With the rising awareness of environmental conservation, the public is paying more attention to the concepts of energy saving and reducing carbon emissions. The technologies of utilizing renewable energy have gained worldwide attention. In terms of renewable energy, solar energy is widely available. Unlike other energy sources, such as fossil energy or nuclear energy, solar energy does not cause carbon emissions or radiative pollution. Therefore, solar thermal collectors that convert sunlight into thermal energy have been applied in many fields and the production of solar thermal collectors has become an important industry.
A solar thermal collector with a large solar-receiving area can generate a relatively large amount of thermal energy for use. Many manufacturers in this field are putting efforts into integrating the concept of “green building” with the solar thermal collector, that is, to install solar thermal collectors on parts of a building that receive the most sunlight, so as to use the thermal energy generated by the solar thermal collectors to compensate for the thermal energy consumed in the building (e.g. supply of hot water or heating). However, the structures of current solar thermal collectors usually are not rigid and the installation requires attaching the collectors to existing building exterior structures, rather than become part of the building exterior structure. In addition, the bulky size and thickness of current solar thermal collectors limits the applicability and design flexibility of the solar thermal collector in the field of building integrated solar thermal (BIST).